Snow removal apparatus



' 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 5, 1950 INVENTOR. Jo/m Pepi BY March 1952 J. PEP] 2,588,039

SNOW REMOVAL APPARATUS Filed Jan. 5, 1950 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 5 I I II I I I I I I I II I I E9f a wf ywwgwkwsz gjwfi t A z y I t j 5, 44 v A INVENTOR.

Jo/m Pepi BY MMHZMM March 4, 1952 J PEP] 2,588,039

SNOW REMOVAL APPARATUS Filed Jan. 5, 1950 Q 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Y 4/061; Pep/f Patented Mar. 4, 1952 SNOW REMOVAL APPARATUS John Pepi, Quincy, Mass.

Application January 5, 1950, Serial No. 136,929

7 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for re-' moving snow from a highway or an airport runway and melting the snow as it is removed.

It has heretofore been proposed to remove the snow from highways by moving over the snowcovered highway a casing open at the bottom and provided with means for maintaining the interior of the casing in a highly heated condition so that the heat within the casing will melt the snow that is exposed through the open bottom.

The operation of melting snow which is' lying in a static condition on a roadway is not only a snow operation, but one involving a large expenditure of heat and hence a more or less expensive operation.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a device for removing snow from a snowcovered highway or runway by comminuting the snow and delivering it in a fine powdery condition into a highly heated chamber in which the minute particles of snow are instantly melted, the water resulting from the melted snow being then drained off and delivered into the gutter of the highway.

By pulverizing the snow and delivering it to the snow melting temperature in a finely powdered condition, the speed at which a quantity of snow can be melted is greatly increased and the melting of the snow is accomplished with a decreased expenditure of heat.

In order to give an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a snow removal and snow melting apparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3--3, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44, Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section-on the line 5-5, Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-5, Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a view showing the rear end of the apparatus.

My improved snow removing and snow melting apparatu comprises a casing or housing l which is open at the bottom as shown at 2 and also open at the front as shown at 3. J ournaled in the housing is a shaft 5 on which is loosely mounted a plurality of housing-supporting disks 9 by which the housing is supported with the lower edge 6 supported slightly'above the road surface I.

Also mounted on the shaft 5 but fast thereon are a plurality of snow pulverizing disks 8, each having a saw-toothed peripheral edge, said snow pulverizing disks 8 being slightly smaller in diameter than the housing-supporting disks 9 so that as the housing is moved over the roadway I, the saw-teeth of the pulverizing disks will just clear the surface of the roadway.

The housing is formed with a snow melting chamber or space In immediately in the rear of the housing-supporting disks 9 and the snow pulverizing disks 8, and beneath the space [0 there is formed a water collecting gutter II which inclines downwardly from one side of the housing to the other and which leads through a discharge opening 12 in one side of the housing.

Means are provided for rotating the shaft 5 rapidly in the direction of the arrow in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 so that as the housing is moved over the snow-covered roadway, the teeth l3 of the snow pulverizing disk 8 pick up the snow and throw it backwardly into the space If! in a finely powdered condition.

Means are also provided for maintaining the space [0 in a highly heated condition with the results that as the minute snow particles are thrown backwardly into the space In as shown at M in Fig. 6, each particle, because of its small size, is instantly melted. The melted snow will accumulate in the gutter II and will be discharged at the side of the housing through the discharge opening I2.

Any suitable means may be employed for rotating the shaft 5. I have shown for this purpose an internal combustion engine l5, the shaft it of which is connected by bevel gears I! with a drive shaft I8 mounted in bearings [9 carried by the housing and which is connected by bevel gears 20 with the shaft 5 as best seen in Fig. 1.

Any suitable means may be employed for maintaining a high temperature in the melting chamber I0. One satisfactory means for this purpose consists of a torch burner type unit 23 which delivers products of combustion and air in a highly heated condition, said torch type burner being arranged to deliver its products of combustion into a duct 2| which opens into the chamber to near the bottom as shown at 22 in Fig. 6. With this arrangement a continuous stream of highly heated gaseous medium consisting of products of combustion and air is being delivered to the chamber l 0 as shown by the arrows in Fig. 6, thereby maintaining a high temperature in the chamber l0 which is effective in instantly melting the snow particles as they are delivered to the chamberby the snow pulverising disks 8.

Any suitable or known torch type burner may be used, such torch type burner being a wellknown article of commerce. The torch type burner is supplied with fuel from a fuel tank 24 by means of a supply pipe 25 and is also supplied with air under pressure through an air pipe 26 with connects the burner with a blower 21 of any suitable or usual construction. The blower 21 is operated from the internal combustion motor l5, the shaft I6 of the latter being extended and connected to the rotor of the blower 21.

The housing I may be moved over the snowcovered roadway by any suitable means. It may be either a self-propelled unit or it may be moved forward by means of a truck or other automotive vehicle the front part of which is shown at 28. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the housing I is provided on its rear side with two eyes 29 through which extends a rod 30, said rod also extending through similar eyes 3| projecting forwardly from the bumper 32 of the truck 28.

With this arrangement the truck will push the housing forward over the road surface, and because of the pivotal connection between the housing and the truck bumper and also because the housing is supported on the freely rotatable supporting disks 9, said housing will follow readily any uneven surface in the roadway.

If desired the truck may be provided with some usual means for raising the housing ofi from the roadway and maintaining it in raised position while the truck is traveling to and from the place where the apparatus is to be used. For this purpose the truck bumper is shown as having two uprights 33 rising therefrom to which is pivotally connected two arms 34, the outer end of the arms 34 being connected by a link or rod 35 that is under control of the driver of the truck. The

outer end of the arms 34 is also connected to the housing I by means of a chain 36 or similar connection, the latter being connected to two eyes 31 with which the housing is provided.

A pulling force applied to the rod in the direction of the truck or .to the right in Figs. 1 and -2 will-operate to swing the housing upwardly about its pivotal connection 30 and thus clear it from the road surface.

The housing I may be of any suitable width, but will be preferably somewhat wider than the truck so that as it moves over the surface of the roadway, it will clear a path plenty wide enough for automobile trafiic.

As herein illustrated the sides of the housing I are provided with deflectors 38 which will deflect snow into the open end 3 of the housing thereby increasing the width of the path which will be cleared of snow by the device.

The duct 2| has a progressively increasing width from the top to the bottom as shown at 39 in Fig. 7, and the opening 22 through which the hot products of combustion are delivered into the melting chamber l0 extends from one side to the other of the housing.

In the device herein described the open front casing together with the flaring deflectors 38 function on the order of a snow plow by directing the snow into the path of the snow comminuting element 8, said rapidly rotating snow comminuting elements function on the order of a sweeper in that they sweep the snow on the roadway back into the heating or melting chamber I0, but their action differs from that of a rotary brush in that they comminute the snow and deliver it into the chamber H1 in a fine powdery condition composed of extremely minute snow particles. The chamber l0 functions as'a snow destroying element in that it melts the' minute particles of snow and converts them into water. The device therefore may be regarded as a combination snow plow, snow sweeper and snow destroyer.

One advantage of the apparatus herein shown is that it operates to clear a roadway by melting the snow thereon at a much greater speed than is possible with an apparatus that does not include the snow comminuting element for delivering the snow into the chamber I0 in a fine powdery form.

If desired the housing-supporting disks 9 may be provided with ball bearings 4| and said disks may also be provided with openings 42 for the purpose of reducing their weight.

Furthermore in order to conserve the heat in the chamber [0, I propose to employ a baffle member 43 within the housing between the top thereof and the housing-supporting disks.

The shaft 5 is shown as having a shoulder 44 with which the outside housing-supporting disk has engagement and said disks and the interspersed snow pulverizing members 8 are clamped firmly together and clamped against the shoulder by means of a clamping nut 45 which is screw threaded on the shaft 5.

The clearance between the roadway surface I and the teeth l3 of the snow pulverizing disks 8 is relatively small, not more than A of an inch, and preferably just sufficient so that the teeth will clear the road surface, with the result that the teeth of the rapidly rotating disks are effective in sweeping the road surface practically clean of snow and delivering it into the chamber lflin a finely pulverized condition.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for removing-snow from highways, airport runways, etc., comprising a housing open at the front end and also at the bottom, said housing'having at its rear end a snow melting chamber, a shaft journaled in the housing, a plurality of housing-supporting disks loosely mounted on the shaft and by which the housing is supported for forward movement over a snow-covered roadway, means to move the housing forwardly, a plurality of saw-toothed snow pulverizing disks fast on said shaft and interspersed with the housing supporting disks, means to rotate said shaft rapidly whereby said snow pulverizing disks pulverize the snow and throw it in powdered form into said snow melting chamber, and means to maintain said chamber at a high temperature.

2. An apparatus for removing snow from highways, airport runways, etc., comprising a housing open at its front end, said housing having a heated snow melting chamber in the rear of its open front end, means to maintain said chamber at a high temperature, a rotary shaft located within the housing, a plurality of snow pulverizing elements bracing said shaft, each snow pulverizing element having a toothed periphery, a plurality of supportingdisks loosely mounted on said shaft and'having a rolling engagement with the road surface to be cleared of snow, saidsupporting disks being of asize to maintain a slight clearance between said snow pulverizing elements and said road surface, means to give each snow pulverizing element a' high speed circulatory movement during which the teeth thereof move through a definite orbit in'a direction to give the teeth a movement toward the snow melting chamber as they pass beneath the shaft, whereby the snow on the roadway is pickedup and comminuted by the teeth of the snow pulverizing element and is delivered to the snow melting chamber in minute particles.

3. An apparatus for removing snow from highways, airport runways, etc., comprising a housing open at the front and having a heated snow melting chamber in the rear of its open front, means for delivering snow from the roadway into said chamber in the form of minute particles, said means comprising a rotary shaft mounted in the housing, a plurality of supporting disks loosely mounted on the shaft and adapted to have rolling engagement with the surface to be cleared of snow, a plurality of toothed snow pulverizing disks fast on said shaft and interspersed with the supporting disks, said supporting disks having a diameter slightly greater than the snow pulverizing disks thereby providing a small clearance between said snow pulverizing disks and the surface over which the supporting disks are rolling, means to rotate the shaft at a high speed, whereby the snow pulverizing disks comminute the snow and throw it into the snow melting chamber in the form of minute particles, and means to maintain a high temperature in said chamber.

4. An apparatus for removing snow from highways, airport runways, etc. as set forth in claim 3, in which the supporting disks and the pulverizing disks are relatively thin and are arranged a1ternately on said shaft with a supporting disk between each two adjacent snow pulverizing disks.

5. An apparatus for removing snow from highways, airport runways, etc. comprising a housing open at its front end and having a heated snow melting chamber in the rear of its open front end, a rotary shaft mounted in said housing, a plurality of thin supporting disks loosely mounted on said shaft and adapted to roll over the road surface to be cleared of snow, a snow pulverizing element fast on said shaft between each two adjacent supporting disks, a driving connection between each snow pulverizing element and the shaft, and means to rotate the shaft at a high speed, each snow pulverizing element having a toothed peripheral surface, whereby the snow on the roadway is comminuted by the high speed snow pulverizing elements and is delivered into said heated chamber in the form of minute snow particles.

6. An apparatus for removing snow from highways, airport runways, etc. comprising a housing open at the front and having a heated snow melting chamber in the rear of its open front, means to maintain said chamber at a high temperature,

a rotary shaft mounted in the housing, a plurality of thin supporting disks loose on said shaft and adapted to roll over the road surface to be cleared of snow, a plurality of toothed snow pulverizing elements embracing said shaft, each snow pulverizing element having a continuous toothed periphery, there being a snow pulverizing element between each two adjacent supporting disks, a driving connection between each snow pulverizing element and said shaft by which rotation of the shaft moves the teeth of each snow pulverizing element through a definite orbit, and means to rotate the shaft at a high speed, said supporting disks having a diameter to maintain a small clearance space between the lower portion of said orbit and the road surface being cleared, whereby the rapidly operating snow pulverizing elements comminute the snow on the roadway and deliver it into said chamber in the form of minute particles.

7. An apparatus for removing snow from highways, airport runways, etc. comprising a housing open at its front end and having a snow melting chamber in the rear of its open end, means for continuously delivering highly heated air into said chamber, a rotary shaft located within the housing, a plurality of supporting disks loosely mounted on said shaft and having a rolling engagement with the road surface to be cleared of snow, a plurality of snow pulverizing elements embracing said shaft, each snow pulverizing element having a toothed periphery, said supporting disks being of a size to maintain a slight clearance between the snow pulverizing elements and said road surface, and means to give each snow pulverizing element a high speed circulatory movement during which the teeth thereof move through a definite orbit and in a direction to give the teeth a movement toward the snow melting chamber as they pass underneath the shaft, whereby the snow on the roadway is comminuted by the teeth of the snow pulverizing elements and is delivered to the snow melting chamber in the form of minute particles.

' JOHN PEPI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,466,614 Dunwald Aug. 28, 1923 1,753,757 Smith Apr. 8, 1930 

